How to write descriptively - Nalo Hopkinson

Prevodilac: Milenka Okuka Lektor: Mile Živković

We read fiction for many reasons.

Čitamo književnost iz raznih razloga.

To be entertained,

Da bismo se zabavili,

to find out who done it,

da bismo otkrili počinioca,

to travel to strange, new planets,

da bismo putovali na neobične, nove planete,

to be scared,

da bismo se uplašili,

to laugh,

to cry,

smejali,

plakali,

to think,

razmišljali,

to feel,

osećali,

to be so absorbed that for a while we forget where we are.

da bismo bili toliko zadubljeni da na trenutak zaboravimo gde smo.

So, how about writing fiction?

Dakle, šta je s pisanjem književnosti?

How do you suck your readers into your stories?

Kako da usisate čitaoce u svoje priče?

With an exciting plot? Maybe.

Uzbudljivim zapletom? Možda.

Fascinating characters? Probably.

Opčinjavajućim likovima? Verovatno.

Beautiful language? Perhaps.

Prelepim jezikom? Možda.

"Billie's legs are noodles. The ends of her hair are poison needles.

"Biline noge su rezanci. Krajevi kose su joj otrovne igle.

Her tongue is a bristly sponge, and her eyes are bags of bleach."

Jezik joj je čekinjasti sunđer, a njene oči su kesice belila."

Did that description almost make you feel as queasy as Billie?

Da li se zbog tog opisa osećate gotovo podjednako bolećivo kao Bili?

We grasp that Billie's legs aren't actually noodles.

Mi shvatamo da Biline noge nisu stvarno rezanci.

To Billie, they feel as limp as cooked noodles.

Bili ima osećaj da su joj noge mlitave poput kuvanih rezanaca.

It's an implied comparison, a metaphor.

To je podrazumevano poređenje, metafora.

So, why not simply write it like this?

Pa, zašto prosto nije ovako napisano:

"Billie feels nauseated and weak."

"Bili je muka i oseća se slabo"?

Chances are the second description wasn't as vivid to you as the first.

Sve su prilike da vam se drugi opis ne čini živopisnim poput prvog.

The point of fiction is to cast a spell,

Svrha književnosti je da baci čini,

a momentary illusion that you are living in the world of the story.

trenutnu iluziju da živite unutar sveta priče.

Fiction engages the senses,

Književnost zaokuplja čula,

helps us create vivid mental simulacra

pomaže nam da stvorimo živopisne mentalne privide

of the experiences the characters are having.

iskustava kroz koja prolaze likovi.

Stage and screen engage some of our senses directly.

Scena i filmsko platno direktno zaokupljaju neka naša čula.

We see and hear the interactions of the characters and the setting.

Vidimo i čujemo interakcije među likovima i scenografijom.

But with prose fiction,

Međutim kod prozne književnosti,

all you have is static symbols on a contrasting background.

sve što imate su statični simboli na kontrastnoj pozadini.

If you describe the story in matter of fact, non-tactile language,

Ukoliko opišete priču, služeći se činjenicama, netaktilnim jezikom,

the spell risks being a weak one.

rizikujete da čarolija bude slaba.

Your reader may not get much beyond interpreting the squiggles.

Vaš čitalac neće otići mnogo dalje od tumačenja škrabotina.

She will understand what Billie feels like,

Razumeće kako se Bili oseća,

but she won't feel what Billie feels.

ali neće osetiti ono što Bili oseća.

She'll be reading, not immersed in the world of the story,

Čitaće, ali neće biti zadubljena u svet priče,

discovering the truths of Billie's life at the same time that Billie herself does.

otkrivajući istine iz Bilinog života istovremeno sa Bili.

Fiction plays with our senses:

Književnost se poigrava našim čulima:

taste,

ukusom,

smell,

mirisom,

touch,

dodirom,

hearing,

sluhom,

sight,

vidom

and the sense of motion.

i osećajem za pokrete.

It also plays with our ability to abstract and make complex associations.

Poigrava se našom sposobnošću apstrahovanja

i pravljenja složenih asocijacija.

Look at the following sentence.

Pogledajte sledeću rečenicu.

"The world was ghost-quiet,

"Svet je bio tiha sablazan,

except for the crack of sails and the burbling of water against hull."

osim škripe jedara i grgoljenja vode po trupu."

The words, "quiet," "crack," and "burbling,"

Reči: "tih", "škripa" i "grgoljenje"

engage the sense of hearing.

zaokupljaju čulo sluha.

Notice that Buckell doesn't use the generic word sound.

Primećujete da Bakel ne koristi uopštene reči za zvuk.

Each word he chooses evokes a particular quality of sound.

Svaka reč koju odabere priziva određeni kvalitet zvuka.

Then, like an artist laying on washes of color

Potom, poput slikara koji dodaje nove slojeve boje,

to give the sense of texture to a painting,

kako bi podario slici osećaj teksture,

he adds anoter layer, motion, "the crack of sails,"

dodaje još jedan sloj, pokret: "škripu jedara",

and touch, "the burbling of water against hull."

i dodir: "grgoljenje vode po trupu."

Finally, he gives us an abstract connection

Na kraju nam daje apstraktnu vezu,

by linking the word quiet with the word ghost.

povezujući reč tih sa rečju sablast.

Not "quiet as a ghost,"

Ne "tih poput sablasti",

which would put a distancing layer of simile

što bi dodalo distancirani sloj poređenja

between the reader and the experience.

između čitaoca i iskustva.

Instead, Buckell creates the metaphor "ghost-quiet"

Umesto toga, Bakel stvara metaforu "tiha sablazan"

for an implied, rather than overt, comparison.

zarad podrazumevanog, a nauštrb očitog poređenja.

Writers are always told to avoid cliches

Piscima uvek savetuju da izbegavaju klišee

because there's very little engagement for the reader in an overused image,

jer čitaoca veoma malo angažuju izanđali prizori,

such as "red as a rose."

poput "crven kao ruža".

But give them,

No dajte im:

"Love...began on a beach.

"Ljubav... je počela na plaži.

Počela je onog dana kada je Džejkob ugledao Anet

It began that day when Jacob saw Anette in her stewed-cherry dress,"

u haljini boje izdinstanih višanja"

and their brains engage in the absorbing task

i njihovi mozgovi su zaokupljeni opčinjavajućim zadatkom

of figuring out what a stewed-cherry dress is like.

otkrivanja kako haljina u boji izdinstanih višanja izgleda.

Suddenly, they're on a beach about to fall in love.

Iznenada se nalaze na plaži, spremni da se zaljube.

They're experiencing the story at both a visceral and a conceptual level,

Proživljavaju priču, i na visceralnom i na konceptualnom nivou,

meeting the writer halfway in the imaginative play

izlazeći u susret piscu unutar maštovite igre

of creating a dynamic world of the senses.

stvaranja dinamičnog sveta čula.

So when you write, use well-chosen words

Zato, kada pišete, koristite dobro probrane reči

to engage sound, sight, taste, touch, smell, and movement.

koje zaokupljaju: sluh, vid, ukus, dodir, miris i pokret.

Then create unexpected connotations among your story elements,

Potom stvarajte neočekivane konotacije među elementima priče

and set your readers' brushfire imaginations alight.

i raspirite buktinju čitaočeve mašte.